[Ares2557]

I didn't really buy 13 figures this year, I hope you guys are ok with me to just post a top 9. Oh and sorry if its a bit long....lol

9. Bandai Ultra Act Ultraman Nexus Junis
This is honestly a decent figure. With tons of articulation and pose-ability, its probably one of the best Ultraman figure I have seen in a while. Having said that, I must admit I was a little disappointed when I took it out of its box because despite its impressive articulation, Bandai gave it a really mediocre paintjob (except the face, the face looks awesome), some red plastic are still showing through the silver, and some paint are out of line. All in all, this is not a bad figure, but with its price tagged at around $45.00, its a little bit of a letdown.

8. Mcfarlane’s Halo 4 Didact
I am not going to lie, this is a REALLY good figure for how much it cost. For $25.00 I got a figure that looks almost on par with the Play Arts Kai Halo 4 Master Chief (well, on a normal viewing distance anyway). Its beautifully sculpted, beautifully painted, and overall just a really good figure that gives a really good bang for your buck. Only minor gripe is that its articulation is not all that great, and that it doesn’t balance really well on its own, then again, with the money I paid and the quality I got, I am not even going to complain.

7. Square-Enix Play Arts Kai The Dark Knight Trilogy Joker
It is a shame for me to put this at this place, it really is, not only because I love the Heath Ledger Joker, but also because this is a beautiful figure. If it’s up to just my heart, it would at least be 3 places higher, even higher than the Batman from the same series. This figure is beautifully sculpted, painted, and has an incredibly high resemblance with Heath Ledger. However, there is one major flaw I simply cannot overlook on this figure: the contour, and how much of it Square had compromised in order to give this guy articulation. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for good articulation in action figures, but when they went as far as to sacrifice the basic contour of the character, then I would start complaining. Just take a look at the attachment below and see how those joints are interrupting the contour and the shape of the otherwise. Again, this is just my own opinion, but that knocked off a whole lot of points on my rating system.

6. Square-Enix Play Arts Kai The Dark Knight Trilogy Batman
As I said, although I personally like the Joker more, I must say this is a better figure because the joints are really well hidden and the articulation on him is still incredible. Like many older PAK figures, it’s is well sculpted and well painted with a lot of details. Though color on the chest armor and the arm proportion may be a bit off, but these are really minor issue that you won’t even notice once you put him in a pose.

5. Square-Enix Play Arts Kai Halo Reach Noble 3 (Jun)
Boy I got a lot of PAK Figures this year…. Anyway, here is another typically very well built PAK figure with tons of articulation, well sculpted and painted body, and a tremendous amount of details in places you wouldn’t even normally notice. I mean, the first thing I did when my good friend gave this to me as my birthday present was to pick up the sniper rifle and check out the detail I would not see even in the game. Only minor issue is again, the shoulder joint do seems to get a little distracting in a certain pose, but this one is really minor and it can be easily hidden, so I am willing to overlook.

4. Bandai Super Robot Chogokin Megazord
What can I say about this action figure? This is pure nerdgasm. My childhood favorite giant robot is now in glorious die-cast and full articulation, bundled along with beautiful paintjob and incredible amount of detail, this figure is just beyond anyone’s wildest dream. But Bandai didn’t stop there, if you compare it to the original show, Bandai actually fixed the proportion of the Megazord to make it look more streamline and functional. Definitely one of the best action figure I have ever bought.

3. Square-Enix Play Arts Kai Halo 4 Master Chief
I was having a really hard time choosing a 3rd place between this and the Megazord, but since this one technically has more detail and more things to worry about, I have decided to give this one the benefit. Yes, here is another PAK, but nope, this is not one of your average PAK, because this one is exceptionally well built, even in older PAK standard (I keep saying older PAK because Squares quality has seriously dipped IMO ever since the DC variant series, I mean, just look at the “Man of Steel” series and tell me if you think they worth 90 bucks). Quality on literally EVERYTHING is upped compared to the already beautiful “Halo Reach” series. The tremendous effort Square put into this masterpiece is easily visible through every single detail on this figure. Everything from the wear and tear to every nuts and bolts on Chief’s armor is spot on and almost game accurate (I say almost because the visor’s color is slightly off). Square also decided to ditch the muted and dirty paintjob looks for the “Reach” series and opted for the shiny metallic paintjob on this series, and I must say it is one of the best decision they ever did because combining that with the dry brushing technique they used on the armor, I literally had to tapped the figure twice when I opened it just to make sure it is not die-cast metal. The shoulder joint was the only thing I worried about when I opened the box because it looked so big and bulbous when it was just standing upright, but once you put him in a pose, you won’t even notice those shoulder joints at all. Overall, I must say this is by far the best Master Chief action figure money can buy (unless of course if you count the McFarlane’s limited edition statue).

2. Kotobukiya Artfx Iron Man Mark VII
Okay, I know this is a statue, and I know this is technically cheating to put him in here, but I can’t help myself because it looks so good. Its well sculpted as all the Kotobukiya’s product, its well painted, its put into a highly dynamic pose, and it has light up feature, how can anyone not love this. On many level, the quality of this Iron Man is on par with many Hot Toys products, the only difference (and a minor gripe I have) is that they didn’t make the inside of the Arc Reactor. But at half the price and maybe even 1/3 considering the Hot Toys Mark VII’s after market price, I am absolutely not complaining.

1. Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece The Avengers Thor
This is it, the crown jewel of my collection, and this one action figure is the definition of the term “perfection,” everything on this action figure is as perfect as any Thor action figure to date can go. The face sculpt on this figure is so perfect it’s life-like, and especially so if you view it under natural lighting. The armor is also replicated perfectly in all its Asgardian glory, and when you realize that they even did the tiny writing on the edge of the chest armor’s disks which you will not even notice until you get really up close with the figure, you will feel that this figure is worth every single penny. As all Hot Toys figure, most of the joint on him are concealed under a costume made with real cloth and other soft fabric. I especially like what they did to the cape because not only is it made with cloth (yea, its my first cloth cape, let me go over my head a little bit) but they also made it so screen accurate they even got the same way of folding as it does in the film. Finally, there is the icing on the cake: the Mjölnir made out of solid metal, which gives this mighty hammer the weight it deserves. I am pretty sure many of you can guess by now that this is by far my favorite action figure of all time, and I definitely think this is one of those figure that you simply must have as a collector.